In her videos, installations and performances the American artist Kelly Nipper (*1971 in Edina, Minnesota) investigates the relationship between the human body, movement, space and time. She is interested in ritual gestures and processes, and her choreographies repeatedly refer back to the origins of experimental dance.

One particularly influential figure is Rudolf von Laban (1879 – 1958) who, together with Emile Jaques-Dalcroze (1865 – 1950), is considered the founder of modern expressive dance. The Kunsthaus Collection includes an important group of drawings and watercolours by Rudolf von Laban. Kelly Nipper uses these as the starting point for new works that are being created specially for the exhibition and will be shown alongside pieces by Laban.

A central element of the exhibition is Nipper’s new performance 'Black Forest,’ a collaboration with Tramway, Glasgow and the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles.